Checking-in and accessing a room at a temporary dwelling (e.g., a hotel, resort, etc.) is currently a multi-step process for guests. Guests must first stop at the hotel front-desk and wait in line to check-in and receive their key card before heading to their hotel room and swiping the key card to unlock the corresponding room. Even if the guests check-in to the hotel ahead of their arrival, they must still wait to receive their key card before they can access their hotel room, adding undesirable wait time for the guests and increasing the burden on the hotel front-desk staff. After obtaining their hotel room key card, guests are tasked with carrying and keeping track of an extra plastic key card for the duration of their stay, further inconveniencing the guests. Making matters worse, plastic key cards frequently experience performance issues due to their low quality construction (e.g., low coercivity mag stripes on the back of most hotel key cards are low cost but prone to de-magnetization upon exposure to electronic devices) and damage during the guests' stay, sometimes requiring the guests to make a repeat trip to the hotel front-desk for a replacement key card.
To expedite the hotel check-in process and improve the reliability of hotel key cards, some hotels are experimenting with contactless door locks (e.g., door locks that use Near Field Communications “NFC,” Bluetooth Low Energy “BLE,” or Radio Frequency Identification “RFID” technologies). For example, some hotels are providing guests with a physical contactless key card for unlocking the contactless door locks to access their rooms. While helpful in overcoming issues with swiping the plastic key cards, providing the guests with a physical contactless key card fails to reduce the burden on the guests and hotel staff of checking-in and carrying the card.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved devices, systems, and methods that expedite the process for hotel guests to check-in and access their hotel room and reduce the inconvenience on hotel guests of carrying (and not losing) an extra key card, and embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to this and other considerations.